Freedom
by starlightshimmer
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts is over and the war is won, but Harry's adventures are far from over. A strange combination of spells has left an old enemy with a new set of memories and a desire to make ammends. Harry may be the only one who can help.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This fic is novel compliant up until the end of the battle of Hogwarts, but let's just pretend that Harry never liked Ginny, ok? And yes, I know Bellatrix is the oldest of the Black sisters but I like it better this way so... yeah. Also some characters may be a little OOC. And it's not epilogue compliant. And I appreciate constructive criticism but no flamers please - if you don't like my story then just don't read it. And... I can't think of anything else. **

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters, places and quotes from her books belong to the nice J.K. Rowling lady along with everything else from the miraculous works that are her 'Harry Potter' series. I am merely borrowing them for my own enjoyment and will return (most of) them in good condition. Also I am not making any money out of this.**

Chapter 1 - The battle of Hogwarts

'_No!' Mrs Weasley cried as a few students ran forwards, trying to come to her aid. 'Get back! Get back! She is mine!'_

_Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights, Voldemort and his three opponents, Bellatrix and Molly, and Harry stood, invisible, torn between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, unable to be sure that he would not hit the innocent._

'_What will happen to your children when I've killed you?' taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Molly's curses danced around her. 'When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?'_

'_You - will - never - touch - our - children - again!' screamed Mrs Weasley._

_Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backwards through the veil, and suddenly Harry knew what was going to happen before it did._

_Molly's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart._

_Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seeming to bulge: for the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.'_

_oooOOOooo_

Narcissa Malfoy could only watch as her youngest sister stood, fighting for her life. She was afraid to cast any spells to help Bella that might distract her, or miss their target and instead of protecting Bella, would give that pathetic Weasley woman a defence against any spells she might be hit with. How she feared that every breath Bella took may be her last! She could see her sister growing more and more overconfident, until at last the inevitable happened. As Bella laughed, Narcissa saw Molly Weasley raise her wand, her lips forming the words of a spell she just knew was going to hit its mark.

Catching her sister's eye, Narcissa felt a powerful burst of magic build up inside her. She didn't know of any spells that could possibly save her sister - a simple 'Protego' wouldn't be strong enough, and she didn't have time for the longer more complex spells. Not knowing what else to do, she raised her wand and directed that surge of pure, undiluted magic from her very core out through her wand and across the room towards Bella. As she watched it mingle with the spell coming from the wand of Molly Weasley, and race towards her sister's heart, she held her breath. The spell hit Bella in the chest and Narcissa watched as her sister froze, then toppled backwards to cheers from those on the side of the Boy-Who-Lived, and an enraged snarl of fury from Voldemort.

Narcissa was only vaguely aware of the fight between Voldemort and the Potter boy - she wanted nothing more than to rush to her unmoving sister's side, but something was holding her back, some sort of magical barrier that had popped around her. She struggled against it, then realising she would be unable to break through; she glared at those standing around to see if any of them had cast the spell. Her sharp eyes caught the movement of Dumbledore's sleeve (... no, not Dumbledore, his brother, Aberforth. Dumbledore was dead. Like Bella. No, not like Bella! Bella would be okay, she was tough, and she would be just fine...) as he lowered his arm, wand in hand. That great twat had to do the 'honourable thing' and protect those around him didn't he! Stupid, interfering, Gryffindors - always poking their noses in where they weren't wanted! She glared at him but as she caught his eye, he shook his head in a movement so small it almost wasn't there. Narcissa knew that had it not been for the barrier keeping her in place, she would have ended up caught in spell fire between one of the most powerful wizards of all time and his greatest rival. To leave the relative safety of her spot against the wall would have been suicide, but even that knowledge couldn't quell her overpowering need to reach her sister. She stood with an impatient inattentiveness as the man who had used threats, bribes and torture to keeps her and her family under his control was defeated.

Earlier, when she had realised that The-Boy-Who-Lived had survived yet another killing curse from that slimy, evil, psychopath who had made the lives of her and her family almost unbearable for the last few years, there were only two thoughts running through her mind. Her first thought was for the safety of her son, and the second was a tremulous hope that perhaps this time the Dark Lord (and oh how she hated having to call him that) would finally be defeated, but now she could think of nothing other than her desperate hope that somehow Bella would have survived. As the stunned silence around her gave way to cheers as those gathered in the great hall took in the knowledge that the greatest oppressor of the wizarding world was finally dead, Narcissa glared at Aberforth until he took down the barrier surrounding her, then battled her way through the celebrating throngs to her baby sister. Pushing past a group of nosily cheering Hufflepuffs she finally caught a glimpse of the young woman lying face down before her. Narcissa gently rolled her sister over, cradling her in her arms, and gasped.

oooOOOooo

Bellatrix LeStrange felt how she imagined it must feel to have been hit by a truck. She struggled to remember how to blink and slowly opened her eyes, only to quickly squeeze them shut again at the blindingly bright light from some unknown source around her. She groggily sat up and risked peeking through her eyelashes as she let her mind run through what had happened. She remembered taunting Molly Weasley, remembered laughing as she danced around the curses being flung at her... remembered catching her sisters eye and seeing the look of horror there as in that split second, Narcissa realised what was going to happen and raised her wand. She remembered Cissy sending a glittering silver spell from her wand, one which mingled with that of Molly Weasley's as it rushed towards her, hitting her just over her heart. Remembering the pain on her sister's face as the combination of spells hit her and she fell backwards, she wondered just what sort of spell Narcissa had cast on her. Blinking warily, Bella let her eyes adjust to the unnaturally white light and peered around trying to work out just where she was. Glancing around, she saw that she was in a large room devoid of any furniture except for the hospital style bed she was currently sitting on, the floor, ceiling, and walls all a gleaming shade of white. That strange light that had accosted her eyes when she had first opened them seemed to be coming from small silvery spheres hovering up near the ceiling. ...Was she dead? This certainly wasn't St. Mungo's or anywhere else she recognised. She had no idea what spell Molly Weasley had hit her with, but by the feral light she had seen in the other woman's eyes, she guessed she had been fighting to kill.

'Well,' she murmured, 'staying here isn't going to do me much good - I may as well find out where I am.' Getting up from the bed she crossed the room to the door. Still wary of her surroundings she searched through her pockets, hoping to find her wand but not really expecting it to be there. After all, if she was dead then it was doubtful she would still have it. 'Then again...' she thought as she pulled it from the inside pocket of her robes. Maybe she wasn't dead after all - who knew what Narcissa's spell might have done! As she pondered this glimmer of hope she became aware of her wand growing heavy in her hand. Something didn't feel right about it - usually when she lifted her wand it felt like coming home, like she'd finally regained a part of herself she hadn't even realised was missing, but this time... it felt wrong. Her wand was giving off a feeling of darkness and evil that she'd never felt before. This wand had done terrible things. Bella blinked. 'Oh my...' she breathed. 'What have I done?' A wave of emotion poured through her, bringing back memories so powerful they drove her to her knees. Curled up on the floor, Bella attempted to piece together what she was remembering. A marriage contract, Bella crying on the floor the night before her wedding, her husband Rodolphus LeStrange dragging her bound and gagged to Voldemort, Rodolphus forcing potions down her throat and spells being cast upon her - compulsion spells, imperio, obliviate... Her life had been a lie, controlled by her husband and his master. Opening her eyes after the onslaught of memories - memories which had been stolen from her - Bella saw her wand. She lifted it then snapped it in two. She was going to start a new life - finally free from the spells she had been under she could attempt to make up for all the terrible things she had been forced to do. ...Too bad she was probably dead.

Bella stared for a long time at the broken halves of her wand. She rather regretted having broken it now, after all, who knew what was outside that door? Even though she knew what it had done, it had always been a powerful wand, and without it she felt vulnerable. She threw the pieces across the room - they wouldn't do her any good now, and got to her feet. She would just have to trust in her ability to duck and dive away from any spells being cast at her, an ability which had proved itself useful many times in the past. She knew better than to try to inch open the door - that would only give anyone who might be standing outside a chance to stop her before she could escape, so gathering her courage she threw open the door and glanced around outside. Spotting a lone figure standing some distance away from her, she darted back into the room, ducking behind the wall which would offer her some form of protection. When she didn't hear any shouts or running footsteps or spells being shot towards her she risked peering round the edge of the doorframe again. There, standing in front of her was her cousin Sirius Black.

Taking a step back in alarm, Bella stared into the face of her cousin. That settled it then. She was obviously dead. Reaching into her pocket as if about to pull out her wand, Bella stared at the man standing opposite her with narrowed eyes, but he just smiled back with apparent indifference.

'Ah, Bella dear,' he said with a grin. 'Glad to see you're finally awake! And I can see your wand lying in that corner - did you know it's broken by the way? - so you can stop pretending you're about to whip it out and hex me or something.'

Narrowing her eyes even further, but slowly removing her hand from her pocket, Bella glared moodily at him. 'Bella dear!' she thought. Who did he think he was! Though they had been close friends throughout their early childhood, they had drifted apart after she had been sorted into Slytherin and he into Gryffindor, to the point where she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had seen him if you discounted the time of his death in the Department of Mysteries. Rather than snapping at him she chose to ignore his comment, instead settling for asking a question which had been burning in her mind since she'd opened her eyes.

'Where are we? And am I dead?' she queried, using as polite and indifferent a tone as she could muster. Annoying him now would mean he could be inclined to withhold the information she so desperately needed to know.

oooOOOooo

Narcissa collapsed onto the sofa in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, feeling her exhaustion finally catching up with her. So many things had happened the previous day. Not only had her abusive husband been taken immediately to Azkaban, but she herself was under house arrest until such times as a trial could be arranged for her. She'd worked through the night, researching Bella's condition, but she was no closer to an answer than she had been yesterday evening when she had pleaded with McGonagall (the acting Headmistress of Hogwarts now that Snape was gone) to allow her to take her sister home. She had left those in the castle with their assumptions that Bella was dead, but in fact, when Narcissa had performed a diagnostic spell on her she had discovered that Bella was actually in some sort of magical stasis. The combination of her burst of magic and Molly's spell - which after a screaming match with the other woman (a wry smile appeared on Narcissa's face as she remembered that) she had finally discovered had been the killing curse - had begun to change Bella in a way Narcissa hadn't known was possible. When Narcissa had first arrived at her sister's side, she had been shocked by the changes that had taken place in her sister in the few minutes between the spells hitting her and Aberforth dropping his shield to allow Narcissa to race to her side. Bella's face which had been lined, with sunken cheekbones and dark circles under her eyes, was now full and healthy with not a trace of the premature wrinkles and lines that had shown up soon after her marriage to Rodolphus LeStrange. Her hair had regained the lustre it had once had during her Hogwarts years and cascaded down her back in ebony waves rather than the frizzy mess Narcissa had grown used to. Her sister looked younger, happier and more peaceful than Narcissa had seen her since before she finished her last year at Hogwarts and was forced by their parents to marry that abusive man Rodolphus LeStrange. In fact, Narcissa realised with a shiver of apprehension, Bella looked _exactly_ like Narcissa remembered her at that time.

oooOOOooo

Sirius gave a dry chuckle. 'Well Bella dear, you were hit by the killing curse.' Bella couldn't help it, she let out a small sigh of frustration - now she was finally free from all the evil enchantments which had convinced her she _wanted _to be an evil monster, she was dead. Just typical, now she had no chance to try and redeem herself in the eyes of the world. She glared at her cousin as he let out a small chuckle at the mutinous look on her face, amazed he had the audacity to laugh just seconds after informing her she was dead. She turned to stalk away, but he grabbed her arm in a surprisingly quick movement and pulled her back around. 'Hey! I said you'd been hit by the killing curse - I didn't say you were dead!' he laughed. Whipping her head back around, Bella gave him her fiercest glare.

'Could you please, for once, ignore that sadistic part of your tiny brain that is telling you to completely confuse me and EXPLAIN what is going on!'

'Okay, okay, calm down Bella! You should have seen the look on your face though, it was absolutely priceless!' he grinned.

'Sirius...' Bella warned. 'I'm waiting.'

'Fine! You, Bellatrix Black, are in a state of magical stasis. You are not dead; rather, you are on the verge between two worlds. Your sister...'

'Wait,' Bella interrupted. 'You called me 'Black' not LeStrange. Why?' she asked.

'I'll get to that if you would let me continue!' Sirius grumbled, 'May I?'

oooOOOooo

Professor McGonagall stood by the edge of the Black Lake and stared up at the once beautiful castle she considered a home. Of course, she had a small cottage in Hogsmeade where she stayed during the summer, but as the saying goes, 'Home is where your heart is,' and Minerva's heart was most definitely here at Hogwarts. She had always loved Hogwarts as a girl, and loved it still more as a professor. To her, the castle seemed almost sentient at times, especially on those occasions when the students returned after a break, seeming to brighten itself up without any help from Filch - as though happy to have so many people there again. Now however, Minerva could swear that the castle seemed to be in pain, not only from the damage caused by the fighting, but as though it too felt a terrible grief over the deaths of those who had died within its walls. It would be some time before the school could be opened to students again - many corridors ended with a beautiful view of the school grounds, the walls which were supposed to be there having been blasted away during the battle. Rubble lay round every corner, windows were missing panes of glass and the Ravenclaw common room had been completely destroyed. Looking at the once majestic castle from the outside, it was a wonder that it was still standing. Powerful witches and wizards from all over the country were arriving to help restore the school to its former glory, but even with their help Hogwarts was going to be closed for a while. Only time would tell if it would ever be returned to it's former glory.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Yes, I am J.K. Rowling and making loads of money from this thing. ...Wait, what do you mean that was a dream...?**

_A/N: Here's the next chapter! I thought I'd post it early as a little thank you present for all my wonderful reviewers and those who PM'd me to leave a comment, but I won't be able to update this quickly all the time, sorry! Thanks to all who have reviewed or added this story to their favourites or alerts, and thanks especially to frostykitten for her help with a few problems I had. You should all check out her story 'This Curse to Bear' if you have a chance. Now, enjoy!_

Chapter two

At Bella's nod Sirius continued with his story. 'As I was saying, your sister used a very rare form of ancient Fae magic, something which by the laws of nature, she should not have been able to do.' he began, but was swiftly interrupted again by Bella.

'Fae magic?' she queried.

'Seriously cuz, are you ever going to let me finish this?' After another glare from Bella he continued. 'The Fae are a race of magical beings that once lived alongside wizards and muggles. They were the most magic of creatures - taking on whatever form they desired and able to control the elements as they wished, and so they took it upon themselves to protect nature from any threats that may present themselves. For a time, wizards, the Fae and other magical races, including house elves, centaurs and other such creatures, lived together in harmony, lending their magic to muggles as they needed it, and the world prospered. Famine simply did not exist, war and poverty had not yet raised their ugly heads, and all who lived at that time were considered equal. However, there were those who were not content with their lot in life. Some of the most powerful among the wizarding community thought themselves above other races. Soon, they had enslaved some of those they believed were lesser beings. The house elves, who had always been a humble race, willing to help anyone who asked, were soon forced by wizards - and witches too may I add - to obey without question any command given them.

For many years, the Fae stood back and simply watched. They were loath to use violence in this once peaceful world, but as the power of the wizarding community grew, and they moved from their conquer of the house elf race to attempting to do the same with other races; wars broke out among those who had once lived in harmony. With no magic to protect themselves, their families or their homes, muggles were soon forced out of the areas which were most densely populated by the wizarding kind, and were forced to build weapons to defend themselves, thus adding their race to this first war. It pained the Fae to see the destruction of that perfect balance of power which they had spent so long caring for and finally, they decided to intervene. For a year they would withdraw their powers from nature, letting famine sweep across the land. They this would make the wizards stop and think about the devastation their lust for power was causing, and they would put an end to the fighting before they destroyed everything the Fae valued. They began a hibernation of such, hiding themselves away so that they could not be found, some of them deep in the heart of the forests, some in the great rivers which snaked across the land and still others in the powerful gusts of the wind, until all but one of the Fae was gone. This last Fae would be the one to wake them when the year was up, and until then would go to live among the wizarding population and convince them of the error of their ways.

The Fae went to an area which was densely populated with wizarding folk and walked along their streets for a while, listening to their conversations and watching their behaviour. For the most part, they talked mainly of inconsequential things, but occasionally she would come across a group discussing this war they were now part of. Few dared openly oppose it though she got the distinct impression that most did not want this 'power' people talked about if it had to come at a cost of the loss of peace in their world. There were however, a number of power hungry witches and wizards around who were eagerly discussing their next plans for battle. These mainly seemed to involve attacking muggles and forcing them into submission - something no one seemed to think would be too difficult. After all, muggles had no magic to protect themselves with.

The Fae was saddened by this behaviour and decided that she would protect the muggles from the planned attacks of the wizarding community. She ducked out of sight and changed forms, from a human to a small silver bird, then flew away. After just a short while she spotted a muggle gathering. Swooping down, she landed behind a large oak tree and changed back to her humanoid form. She stayed with the muggles and for a few days, all was peaceful. They welcomed her and gave her food and drink, and shared their shelter with her, for though they had no magic of their own; they had learnt to recognise the feel of other magicks and recognised her as a powerful guardian.

To the sorrow of the Fae, this peace was not to last. Early one morning as she was flying over the camp the muggles were staying in, she spotted a large group of people heading their way. The time had come. Returning to the camp, she revealed herself in her true Fae form - taller than an average human with a graceful, willowy body and features that had all the beauty of the forest on a bright, morning. Her dress was the blue of a bluebird's delicate feathers, and flowed and rippled like a river as she moved. Her hair was the colour of the bark on the trees and cascaded down her back in curling ringlets, small flowers dotted through it like jewels. The muggles gathered around her as she called out to them. 'Listen to me, my children,' she called to them. 'There are those who wish to harm you, but I have spent time among you and see that your only wish is for things to return to the way they were - you have done nothing against me or my people. Gather round me and you will be safe. I shall call the wind and the trees to us, and we shall prevail against our enemies.'

Saying this she raised her hands to the sky and began a whispering chant. It was like no language the muggles had heard before but they stood around her, trusting in the strength of the magic radiating from her. The chant slipped into a song and the Fae spread her arms wide, calling to the trees around them. The wind blew a little more strongly, sweeping in a fog so thick that everything around was hidden from view, and when it finally dissipated, a number of strange lumps could be seen towards the edge of the camp. As the muggles moved closer to investigate, they saw that these lumps were in fact, strange cages made from interlocking tree roots, inside which were the groups of the wizards who had wished to harm them. Their wands lay shattered on the ground next to them, and without their weapons of power, the wizards trembled before the Fae.

The Fae spoke in a loud voice which shook the earth, turning the wrath of nature upon these who had so foolishly tried to seize power for themselves. 'You disappoint me children,' she began. 'We gave you a perfect world to live in, and still you desired more. Your actions will cost you dearly.' She paused to glare around at them. 'Your people value their magic more than anything, so this will be the price you must pay for disrupting the peace. From now on, those of you who are gathered here will be stripped of your magical ability. You will return to your people and warn them of the dangers of the path they have begun to journey down. If you do not cease in your attempts to become the ruling force of this world, then the Fae will no longer assist you in caring for nature. Famine and drought will sweep across your lands and you will lose the ability to use the healing magic of the Fae you use to hold off death. Your life spans will decrease from being measured in centuries to being measured in decades.' She paused again, but when she continued it was in a softer voice. 'There is a way to prevent this from happening. If you can once again learn to live together with the other races which inhabit this earth, then the Fae will stay with you and all shall be as it once was.' The Fae raised a hand and the tree roots crept back into the ground freeing their prisoners, then turned and walked back into the camp.

'Sirius...' Bella said with a warning tone to her voice. 'I hope this is going somewhere and isn't just some pointless babble of yours.'

'Don't worry little cuz, I'm getting there,' Sirius said with a smile. 'You need to understand the history of this particular subject to fully understand what happened to you.'

'Well can we hurry it up a little?' Bella grumbled. 'I don't have all day.'

'Actually...' Sirius began with a smirk on his face, 'you do.'

'Well, I want to spend as little time in this place as possible.' Bella snapped back. 'Get on with your story.'

oooOOOooo

Narcissa blinked, and then opened her eyes fully. A little disorientated, she wondered where she was for a fraction of a second, then realised she must have fallen asleep on the sofa. She stood and stretched, then made her way to the darkened guest room where Bella lay. She called a house elf and asked for a cup of tea, then changed her mind and made her way to the kitchens. Enough was enough she thought. Lucius had mistreated these elves for as long as they had served the family, and though Narcissa had always treated them kindly, she felt they had suffered more than enough. Stepping into the kitchens she called for their attention. 'If you wouldn't mind, I would like to talk to you for a while,' she began. She was met with a resounding chorus of 'Yes mistress.' and 'certainly mistress,' as the house elves stopped what they had been doing and turned towards her.

'Thank you,' she said. 'I would like to talk to you all about a matter that has been beyond my control for many years, but thanks to recent events, namely my husband's arrest, I am now able to do something about. I am aware that many of you have been badly hurt by my husband.' Spotting the looks on their faces she continued. 'No, no, do not deny it. I know he has ordered you that you must not speak ill of your masters, but I, as mistress of this house am telling you that this is no longer a rule you must obey.' She smiled at their looks of relief, obviously they had been battling between obeying the order that they must not lie to their masters, and the order she had just rescinded. The conversation would be a whole lot more comfortable now. She continued with her little speech. 'I know that when most of you agreed to start working for this family, you did not expect the punishments to be as harsh as they have turned out to be. You have done much, much more than I could ever have asked of you, and because of this I would like to make you an offer. Those of you who wish to have it; I will grant you your freedom.'

Narcissa's statement was met with a long silence. She began to fidget under the scrutiny of the many eyes upon her. Finally, just as she was about to say something else, a small elf raised her hand. Smiling a small smile of relief, Narcissa nodded to her. 'Yes Dolly?'The little elf's eyes lit up with happiness.

'Mistress knows Dolly's name!' she squeaked with happiness. Narcissa laughed.

'Of course I do! Now, what was it you wanted to ask dear?' The little elf paused and then stared into Narcissa's face with large hopeful eyes.

'Dolly was wondering if Dolly could work for mistress 'Cissa rather than being free. Dolly does not want to work for master Lucius who hurts Dolly, but Dolly is liking mistress 'Cissa and does not want to leave her.'

Narcissa's heart melted at the shy look on the little elf's face. Smiling at her, she replied, 'Of course you can! I would be honoured to have you working for me Dolly!' She picked up the little elf and gave her a hug, sending her into tears of joy.

Setting Dolly down, Narcissa turned to survey the rest of the elves. 'Okay,' she said. 'Which of you wish to be free?' After a small pause, a few of the elves raised their hands. 'Right,' Narcissa said, conjuring a large pile of elf sized clothes. 'Help yourselves!' The elves approached her and, with a little encouraging, picked out a few items of clothing each. They stood whispering to each other and after a moment one stepped forward, obviously having been elected as spokesperson.

'We is wanting to say thank-you to mistress 'Cissa,' he began, but stopped when Narcissa interrupted him. '

Not 'mistress 'Cissa' anymore, Arnold.' she said with a smile. 'Just call me Cissy, okay? In fact,' she continued, turning to the other elves, 'I've never been comfortable with the whole mistress thing. Why don't you all call me 'Cissa or Cissy?' Though they seemed shocked at this act of familiarity, they all gave small nods. 'Great!' Narcissa exclaimed. 'Now, what were you saying Arnold?'

The house elf looked up shyly. 'We house elves wanted to tell ... Cissy... that we is very fond of you too miss, but we has always wanted to be free. If we had to choose masters we would be choosing you miss, but because you is letting us be free...' Arnold trailed off. Narcissa looked at him with that small smile on her face again.

'I understand Arnold,' she told him. 'You simply wish to be able to live with no master, am I right?'

'Yes ...Cissy...' the little house elf smiled.

'Then away you go dears.' With that, the group of freed house elves disapparated with a loud pop and were gone. 'Ok,' Narcissa continued, turning to survey the remaining house elves. 'Are all of you happy to serve the entire Malfoy family? Or would you prefer to serve a single master, such as myself or my son?' she enquired. Narcissa was shocked by the number of elves who raised their hands. This was going to take longer than she had expected.

oooOOOooo

Sirius stared at his cousin for a moment. 'You might not like this next part of the story.' he warned. Bella gave him a pained look. 'I think I can cope. After all, I've probably done worse.' she replied in a small voice. 'Okay,' Sirius replied, 'but you've been warned.'

The Fae decided to spend the remainder of the year with the muggles. While the wizarding community had not attempted to attack them again, she was unsure as to how long this peace would last. In the mean time however, she was determined to help the muggles in any way she could. These people had welcomed her into their community and most longed for the peace they used to have. They did not deserve to suffer through the famine that would soon come, and here the Fae could help. She spent the next months walking through the crops she had helped the muggles plant, using her powers to encourage them to grow strong and tall, then returning to the small village in the evenings. A young couple there had welcomed the Fae into their home, and the two women had quickly become friends. After a while though, the Fae began to miss the quiet of the forest. She took to walking along the edge of the woods for a while each day, and this usually satisfied her enough to let her spend another night in the village. On a few occasions she was accompanied by the young woman who was now expecting her first child and she enjoyed these moments of friendship. She did not have many friends among her own people - the Fae were a rather solitary race, most preferring the company of the wind and the trees than of each other.

It was on one of these occasions when she was walking alone along the edge of the forest, that tragedy befell her. She was so absorbed in the feeling of freedom the forest brought her that she did not notice that the shadows around her had eyes, or that the occasional noises she heard were not those made by animals moving through the forest but by something much more sinister. It was not until she was out of sight of the village that she realised the birds which usually accompanied her on her walks were absent, and the forest was empty of the chirping and scurrying she so loved to hear. Before she had a chance to process this and realise what was happening, she was hit with a silent spell from behind. She fell to the ground, feeling the life already draining from her body. Vaguely aware of shadows moving around her, she concentrated her remaining energy on focusing her healing magic towards the spot where the spell had hit her, knowing even as she did that it wouldn't be enough. She lay for what felt like hours, growing progressively weaker but still fighting. She had almost given up when she heard footsteps running towards her. She opened her eyes to see the woman who had become her friend crouched down beside her, tears in her eyes. Knowing she was not going to live, the Fae placed her hand on the woman's arm and gave her the last gift she had to give. She poured all her magic into the woman and her unborn child. This woman and her female descendants would have the magic of the Fae buried inside of them for the times when they needed it most. It was the last protection the Fae could offer to the muggle community she had come to care for during her short stay with them. With a smile on her lips, the Fae closed her eyes for the final time, knowing she had done all she could.

_A/N: So what did you think? Please read and review! (By the way, I am not going to be one of those authors who say 'REVIEW OR I WON'T POST THE NEXT CHAPTER' but I do appreciate any reviews you leave and they inspire me in my writing.)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Guess what! No, just guess. ...Yup, you got it. I'm not lucky enough to be J.K. Rowling or make any money from this. I don't even own it. Life sucks.**

_A/N: Well, here's the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviewed - it was interesting to see what you thought might be revealed in the coming chapters so you'll have to read on to see if you're right!_

Chapter three

When Narcissa had finished talking with each house elf she was in a very good mood. Most of the elves had asked to be able to serve the Malfoy household with the exception of Lucius, which had troubled Narcissa. He had obviously treated them much worse than even she had realised, and it gave her a great sense of pleasure to know that this would no longer be the case. Two other house elves had asked to serve Narcissa, a young elf named Honey and an older house elf who had served the Malfoy household since before Narcissa had been forced to marry Lucius by her father. This elf had comforted and healed Narcissa on the multiple occasions Lucius had beaten her, and the two had become firm friends very quickly. One house elf who she knew was Draco's favourite had leaped at the chance to serve her son and she was rather pleased with this. Draco had been through much more than anyone should ever have to go through and had few real friends in the wizarding world. The little elf would be good company for him and would also be able to wake him from the terrible nightmares where he relived those moments when Voldemort had put him under the cruciatus curse after Lucius had blamed Draco for letting the Potter boy escape. She was concerned for Draco. He was now legally an adult and able to do as he wished, but she still longed to have him under her wing. He had taken it upon himself to seek out Blaise Zabini who had gone into hiding with his family during the war. Blaise had been Draco's only real friend at Hogwarts and Narcissa knew Draco was worried for him. Maybe once the Zabini family had returned from wherever they vanished to, Draco would spend more time at Malfoy manor. She certainly hoped so anyway.

oooOOOooo

Bella wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, looking surprised to find it there, and then stared up at Sirius. 'What happened then?' she asked. 'Who woke the other Fae when the year was over?'

'No-one.' replied Sirius. 'Ever since, the Fae have been frozen in whatever form of hibernation they entered at the start of that first famine. Eventually the wizards invented spells to help their crops grow without the help of the Fae, but by killing the Fae who had been sent to live among them, they destroyed all chance of ever going back to the peaceful life they had once had.'

'What happened to the woman?'

'A few months after the Fae's death, a daughter was born to her. This child, as well as having the magic of the Fae, had the magic of wizards. She became the first of many muggleborns, and she helped begin to bridge to gap between the muggle and wizarding world. While only the direct female line of the woman the Fae had befriended would inherit the power of the Fae, all her descendants would have the possibility of displaying the kind of magic the wizarding community has.'

'So what does all this have to do with me and Cissa?' Bella asked.

'Haven't you guessed?' Sirius replied. 'You and Cissa are directly descended from the daughter of the woman blessed by the Fae. She was your great, great, great, great, whatever grandmother. Not through marriage, but related through blood. In other words, you, Cissa and Andromeda have the magic of the Fae in your blood.'

oooOOOooo

It was finally over. Harry sat in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, wondering why he didn't feel happier. Ron and Hermione were sitting beside him and all three had their schoolbooks spread out over the table in front of them, Hermione having insisted they should find a while each day to study now that they were unable to attend their usual classes at Hogwarts. Those students who wished had been transferred to other schools to finish the school year, but most - like Harry, Ron and Hermione, had opted to add a year to their education and wait for the reopening of Hogwarts. This left Harry with lots of spare time and nothing to do for the foreseeable future. He was actually grateful for Hermione's insistence that they spend time studying - after spending the last year hunting down horcruxes and eventually defeating Voldemort, Harry found himself getting restless just sitting and doing nothing. He found it even harder to relax at Grimmauld Place - it reminded him too much of Sirius. Though the war was over, Harry felt a deep sense of loss. He missed those friends and loved ones who had died over the last years; Moody, Sirius, Dumbledore, Fred, Colin Creevy, Remus, Tonks... the list went on. All these people had died because of him, or so he had convinced himself. While he was not directly responsible for their deaths, Harry felt an overwhelming guilt that he had been unable to protect those he cared about.

The sound of a beak tapping at the window drew him out of his morose thoughts and he got up to let in the little barn owl carrying today's Daily Prophet. The headline caught his eye as he put a few Knuts into the small leather pouch attached to the owl's leg, and he scanned through the story whilefeeding the leftover bacon scraps from that morning's breakfast to the owl which had flown to perch on his shoulder. He glanced absently at his two best friends, throwing the newspaper to them. 'There's someone I need to see.' he said, and with a pop he was gone.

oooOOOooo

Hermione picked up the paper and began to read aloud. '_Malfoy family under investigation_' the headline began. She and Ron shared a glance across the table. Harry had told them both about how Narcissa had lied to Voldemort when she had been sent to check if he was alive, but he hadn't told them much more than that. Hermione glanced back down at the paper and continued reading.

'_Few were shocked when recent events led to a life sentence in Azkaban for Lucius Malfoy, a notorious Death Eater and supporter of the recently defeated Lord Voldemort. (See page 6) While there is more than enough evidence to say that this man most certainly deserves his sentence, the circumstances surrounding his wife and son are less certain. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black who is under house arrest under her pending trial has not been available for comment, while her son is nowhere to be found. Draco Malfoy, who is in his final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry left the country less than an hour after the defeat of Voldemort and has not been seen since. Interrogations of recently captured Death Eaters have painted a rather inconclusive picture of the actions of Mrs Malfoy and her son. While there is definite evidence that both were involved in the Battle of Hogwarts, none of the interrogated Death Eaters have given an indication of a time when they saw Mrs Malfoy actually performed anything resembling a curse or hex. In fact, investigations so far have revealed that Mrs Malfoy seems to have played a very insignificant part in these recent events.'_

Hermione looked up again with a thoughtful expression on her face and set the newspaper back on the table. 'Do you remember Mrs Malfoy ever actually casting a spell at anyone?' she asked Ron. Ron thought for a moment. 'Only once,' he replied. 'She cast a spell at Harry and me when we were in Malfoy manor, just before Dobby rescued us... I think you were unconscious at the time, you probably don't remember...' he trailed off.

'Oh... but other than that?' Hermione persisted.

'Now that I think about it, no.' Ron replied.

'I thought not.' Hermione murmured. 'I wonder why...'

oooOOOooo

Narcissa spent a while just sitting beside her sister, marvelling at the changes in her appearance. She had given up searching for something to wake her, instead concentrating more on caring for her. Bella would wake when she was ready. Narcissa had seen very little of her youngest sister since both she and Bella had been married off to their respective husbands, but she would never forget the night when Bella had appeared at the Manor some months ago. She had been shocked by the look on her sister's face - a mixture of grief, sorrow and fear that had chilled Narcissa to the bone - and had quickly brought her inside and sat her down on the sofa, pulling her into a comforting hug while she wept anguished tears. It had reminded Narcissa of when they had been children, comforting each other when either of them had been upset. Narcissa had never been able to understand how her gentle, caring sister had turned into a ruthless murderer, but she got her answer that night. Through fits of sobs Bella told her how she had been under the imperius curse since the day she had married Rodolphus LeStrange, as well as compulsion potions and other spells which made her _want_ to do the Dark Lord's bidding. She had been strong enough to shake of the imperius curse on occasions, such as now, but every time, Rodolphus would drag her back to Voldemort who would simply renew the charm and obliviate her.

Narcissa had been horrified - how _dare_ anyone do such a thing to her little sister! Before she could work out a way to protect Bella however, her husband Lucius had arrived back at the manor. When he found Bella sitting with Narcissa he had been furious. Quickly disarming the two women, Lucius bound and gagged them both. Rodolphus had arrived not long after and dragged Bella behind him as he walked out the door. The next day, her sister had been back under the imperius curse with no memory of the night before. After Bella had gone, Lucius had turned his wrath on her. Never before had Lucius used an unforgivable on her, but that night he Crucio'd her time after time. He obliviated her, but that had always been his weakest spell, and Narcissa had retained enough of her memories to overcome his curse. Only when Narcissa had lost consciousness had Lucius relented with his torture, and Narcissa had been a trembling wreck for months afterwards, the aftershocks of the cruciatus curse leaving her unable to properly function. Her only blessing had been that Draco had been at Hogwarts during all this, and so would never need to know what tortures she had undergone.

Just then Narcissa felt the Manor's wards alert her to the presence of someone approaching the door. She lifted her wand and made her way to the entrance hall. She peered out the window and started when she saw who was approaching. She opened the large door, flooding the hall with light. 'To what do I owe the pleasure Mr Potter?'

oooOOOooo

Bella stared at Sirius for a long time, contemplating what he had just said. It made sense in a way she supposed, though she had so many questions... 'How do you know all this?' she asked.

Sirius laughed. 'It's amazing how much you find out when you move on,' he replied.

'I still don't really understand,' Bella said. 'You said the direct female descendants would have the magic of the Fae in them for when they needed it most, but if that's the case, how come there haven't been any stories about this kind of magic?'

'I'm not exactly sure,' Sirius began, but was interrupted by a laugh from Bella.

'And there I was thinking you knew everything,' she laughed. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her.

'As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,' he said with laughter evident in his voice, 'I'm not exactly sure, but I do have a theory. Hundreds of years ago, when the Fae still lived among us, the wizarding community relied heavily on the magic of the Fae, not only when it came to growing their crops, but also when it came to healing the injured and prolonging their own lives. They were able to draw the magic they needed from their surroundings as the abundance of magic the Fae had was so great that it lingered behind them, much like the way a scent can linger in the air for a long time with the difference that this magic did not fade unless it was used up. When the Fae went into their hibernation of sorts, the wizards continued to use these reserves of magic in the same way they had for hundreds of years. Eventually these supplies became so low that the wizarding community could no longer perform those spells which required the magic of the Fae and eventually the spells were forgotten.

It is at this point where the details become a little sketchy,' Sirius admitted. 'It is my belief, that while the magic of the Fae is buried within each of the direct female descendants of the first muggleborn, it needs the presence of this... leftover magic, to activate it I suppose you could say. So little of this magic remained in the world after a few generations of female children had come and gone that there was no longer enough magic to give each child the starting boost that was required to stir up the dormant Fae magic that lay in each of them. Over years, the story of the Fae magic became nothing more than a myth to most people, and eventually it was forgotten.'

'So... what you're saying is that because the Fae never woke up, the magic they left behind just got... used up, until it ran out? Bella asked.

'Something like that, yes.' replied Sirius. 'As for how that magic became active in Cissa... I believe that while she was in the forest, she did something that changed the balance of magic in the world so greatly, that it attracted the attention of one of the hibernating Fae. When she did what she did... I think she woke it up.

oooOOOooo

Harry stood on the doorstep of Malfoy manor, feeling slightly awkward. When he seen the name 'Malfoy' in the paper, it had seemed a great idea to visit Narcissa Malfoy and thank her, but now... He could clearly remember his last visit to this house, Bellatrix torturing Hermione with the cruciatus curse and the silver knife that had killed Dobby... he still heard Hermione's screams in his nightmares sometimes. He was glad the woman was dead. If she hadn't been, Harry wouldn't have rested until he had hunted her down. Then he could have paid her back for killing Sirius and Dobby, and for torturing Hermione, and Neville's parents, and for everything else she had done to hurt the people he knew and those he didn't. He fingered his wand then put it in his pocket where he could reach it easily if anything happened, but hidden enough that he would not appear threatening.

When Narcissa opened the door, she had a smile on her face. Harry couldn't ever remember seeing her with any expression other than the mask of indifference she usually wore on her face, and was pleasantly surprised - if slightly unnerved - at the change. He still felt like he was handing himself over to the enemy, but perhaps this wouldn't be as awkward as he had feared. Whatever he felt like, he was determined to go through with his plans. Narcissa had had opportunity enough to do away with him, and yet he was still alive. Besides, he wanted to know why she had not given him away in the forest. While he had survived one bout of the killing curse, he knew he would not have been able to survive two. Narcissa's lie had saved his life, allowing him his chance to kill Voldemort once and for all. Harry was counting on Narcissa not having been as willing a Death Eater as she had appeared to be, and though it seemed to be almost suicidal he listened to the voice that was telling him that she meant him no harm, and smiled back.

Stepping into the entrance hall at Narcissa's gesture he was amazed at the change in the manor. The last time he had been here, it had a definite feeling of evil and darkness emanating from within it, but now with bright lights and the absence of Lucius Malfoy, the manor seemed a much more pleasant place to live in. As if reading his mind, (which reminded Harry - he would _really_ need to learn occlumency properly) Narcissa turned to speak to him. 'The manor is so much more pleasant without Lucius here,' she commented, opening a door and showing him into an immaculate lounge. 'Please, sit and make yourself comfortable.' Though shocked by her seemingly amiable disposition, Harry did his best to hide his unease and walked across the room to perch on the edge of the large white sofa across from the doorway.

_A/N: Please leave me a review to let me know if you liked it!_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. And I don't own Bellatrix. Or Narcissa. Or Ron. Or Hermione, or Draco, or Lucius, or Kreacher. ...Actually the only thing I own in this fic is... umm... ...ok, I don't own anything.**

_A/N: Here's the next chapter! I want to say a really big thank you to my beta plums, who has made this chapter so much better than it would otherwise have been! Be sure to thank him in your reviews!_

Chapter four

After exchanging pleasantries, Harry got straight to the point. 'Well...' he began. 'You may have guessed the reason for my visit.'

'Yes, I think I may have a slight idea.' Narcissa smiled kindly. 'My guess is that this is some sort of thank-you visit you think you owe me for not giving you away in the forest, am I right?'

'Got it in one,' Harry smiled back nervously. '...Well, almost anyway. I also wanted to ask... well, why? I mean, didn't you want Voldemort to win? You attacked us when we were here at the manor, not all that long ago. Why change your mind when it seemed he was so close to winning?'

At his words, Narcissa had lowered her eyes, almost shamefully. After a few tense seconds, in which Harry had begun to wish he hadn't brought the subject up at all and had just left, Narcissa looked up again with pain in her eyes.

'I regret more than anything', Narcissa suddenly winced at the thought, but continued, 'well, more than most things anyway, that I tried to impede your escape that night at the manor. It was out of a selfish desire to avoid the wrath of both my pitiful excuse of a husband and his master. I simply went along with what I was expected to do. You may not believe me on this, but it was never my intention to become allied with the... with... with Voldemort. Nor was it ever my intention to marry anyone as pathetic as Lucius Malfoy!' Narcissa spat the name of her husband, the loathing in her voice quite evident.

She paused, and suddenly looked down. 'As you can see, things didn't quite go as I intended.'

I was betrothed to Lucius Malfoy from the day my older sister Andromeda –who I believe you've met - married a muggleborn. We three Black sisters had been very close as children. While our parents brought us up teaching us the pureblood elitist point of view, to Andi at least, none of it made any sense. Bella and I choose to side with our sister when she and our parents fell out over her choice of a husband. For this betrayal, our parents immediately wrote up marriage contracts for us, lest we should do the same and bring even greater dishonour on the Black family.

The contracts were binding and nothing we did could break them - and believe me, we tried everything! The only way to survive after we were married was to go along with our husbands wishes. If it had not been for Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange, Bella and I may very well have been fighting on the opposite side of the war.'

Harry tried to muffle his snort of disbelief at the idea the Bellatrix Lestrange might have fought alongside him and his friends under different circumstances. Unfortunately for him, Narcissa had rather sharp hearing and looked up angrily at him. 'Doubt my word?' she snapped.

Harry glanced back at her apologetically. 'I just find it hard to believe that your sister would have fought with us. She killed Sirius without any instruction from her husband. She tortured or killed countless numbers of people. While I can believe that you might not have wanted your part in the war to go the way it did, Bellatrix seemed... rather too enthusiastic for it to have been an act I think.'

The unexpectedly friendly atmosphere that had been present earlier abruptly vanished as a grim look came over Narcissa's face. 'You're right,' she said, 'but not in the way you think.'

At the confusion on Harry's face, Narcissa lifted her wand only to have it jerked out of her hand as Harry leapt to his feet and fired an _expeliarmus _at her. She smiled wryly at him. 'I wasn't going to hex you, you know.' she said dryly. 'I am assuming you have a pensieve?'

Puzzled by the abrupt change in conversation, Harry slowly nodded.

'Good,' Narcissa replied. 'Then perhaps you would hand me back my wand so I may give you a memory which may help you understand my situation a little better?' she requested politely.

'Oh... I thought you were attacking me or something.' Harry apologized sheepishly. 'It still hasn't quite sunk in that the war is over yet I suppose, and though you may have lied for me I hope you will forgive that I'm still a little cautious.' He handed the wand back to Narcissa handle first, but could tell she was slightly amused to see that he held his own loosely in his hand rather than tucking it away in his pocket as it had been.

Conjuring up a small glass phial, Narcissa raised her wand slowly to her temple and extracted the memory she had been thinking of before Harry had arrived placing it within the phial. She handed it over, desperately hoping the contents would prevent Bella from instantly getting the Dementor's Kiss if her continued existence was discovered. Perhaps if she could convince The-Boy-Who-Lived of her sister's innocence, then Bella may have a better chance of being accepted back into society if she ever woke up.

oooOOOooo

'So...' Bella began, 'Cissa did something that woke up a Fae, meaning the sort of... dormant Fae powers she had were activated and then she was able to put me in some sort of magical stasis so I wouldn't die. Have I got it all?'

Sirius laughed. 'Oh Bella, that's only the start of it!'

'Aarghh!' Bella exclaimed. 'I don't think my brain can take much more at the minute!'

'Well, we can take a walk for a while if you want,' Sirius began, but stopped as he was interrupted by Bella.

'Fine, but only if you promise to keep talking while we walk - I still want to know why you called me Black instead of Lestrange.'

'Hey, I thought you said your brain couldn't take any more!' he laughed.

Bella glared at him. 'I know I did but this is _important _Sirius! I need to know if I'm finally free from that abusive pig. Actually, scratch that - it's an insult to pigs everywhere.'

Sirius gave another loud chuckle at that, but quickly became more serious. 'Come on,' he said quietly, 'let's walk - it'll clear your mind a bit.' Standing up, he stretched then reached down to help Bella up.

She jumped to her feet and then laughed. 'I'm not a bit stiff,' she said happily. 'I haven't felt this good in years!'

'Yes, well, that's another thing we still have to discuss.' Sirius replied. Bella glanced at him, feeling rather perplexed.

'What do you mean?' she asked.

'Come on and I'll explain.'

oooOOOooo

Harry sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the silvery substance Narcissa had given him. He had no idea what the memory it contained was, and to be honest, he was a little confused as to why Narcissa had given it to him. He supposed it was something to do with Bellatrix, but there was only one way to know for sure. Lifting his rather small pensieve from the shelf where it normally sat, he poured Narcissa's memory into it. As the ripples danced across the surface, Harry lowered his face until he felt the strange - and still rather disconcerting no matter how many times he had experienced it - feeling of being pulled down into the liquid.

He found himself the same room Narcissa had shown him into when he had arrived at the manor earlier. Narcissa was sitting curled up on the sofa, looking so weary and troubled that Harry felt as if he was intruding. Just then, Narcissa glanced up as a house elf popped into view in front of her. 'There is someone here to see Mistress 'Cissa,' the elf announced. 'Thank you dear,' Narcissa replied as she rose from her seat on the sofa. The elf gave a quick bow and then, with a snap of his fingers, disappeared once more.

Harry followed as Narcissa made her way towards the door, pulling her wand out of her pocket as she went. He already had an idea of who would be behind the door, and knew she was dead and gone. When Narcissa opened it to reveal Bellatrix Lestrange standing on the doorstep, Harry still felt a shiver of hatred and anger towards the woman who had killed his godfather. Obviously this was not who Narcissa had been expecting, because, after a moments shock, she made a move as if to shut the door in her sister's face, but caught herself before she did.

After taking a minute to get over his shock, Harry noticed something that made him wrinkle his brow in confusion. The Bellatrix Lestrange he knew stood tall and proud, looking down her nose at almost everyone, laughed while she killed people, got the greatest pleasure out of torturing innocent people and followed any instruction her master gave her with an almost sickening devotion, but the Bellatrix who was standing on the doorstep... it was like she was a completely different person. She was shaking with tears and looked completely broken. Narcissa seemed to have frozen in shock, but as Bella glanced up at her she immediately put her arm around her sister and led her into the lounge.

Harry could only stare in confusion as the woman he had hated for so long broke down in gasping sobs in her sister's arms. He listened intently to the conversation which followed and watched as two newcomers interrupted the two women. Narcissa and Bellatrix were quickly and violently bound and gagged by Lucius Malfoy, and seconds later, Rodolphus Lestrange entered, only to drag the still shaking Bella out the door behind him as Lucius turned to Narcissa. Harry watched the torturing punishments she was subjected to, watched as she curled up in a ball to protect herself - obviously used to treatment of this kind - and watched everything went black as she slipped into unconsciousness.

When the memory faded, Harry found himself sitting back on the edge of his own bed, shaking from the events he had just witnessed. He was sickened by the state Narcissa had been in when Lucius had left her - she hadn't been fit to stand for Merlin's sake! Taking deep calming breaths, Harry tried to comprehend what he had seen. He supposed the memory could have been faked, but somehow, he just knew it was real. For a start, it was all perfectly clear, not fuzzy round the edges like the fake memory he had watched of Professor Slughorn and the young Tom Riddle, and neither did it have the gaps, stutters and starts which he also remembered from that memory. But it was more than that. He couldn't explain how, but he was convinced that what he had seen was real.

He sat pondering the matter for hours before falling into fitful sleep. Just before he closed his eyes, he resolved to visit Narcissa again in the morning.

oooOOOooo

Hermione Granger stood looking out the window of her room in Grimmauld place, wondering what she was to do. Now that she didn't have regular classes to attend or Horcruxes to find or battles to fight, she found that she had a lot of spare time.

With an entire day before her with nothing to do, she decided to see if Harry and Ron wanted to do something. She set off in search of them and, rather predictably, found Ron in the kitchen, tucking into the hearty breakfast Kreacher had provided. Hermione had been delighted to find the little elf had survived the war - she had often worried about what had happened to him after she had inadvertently led Yaxley to Grimmauld Place after their visit to the Ministry to retrieve Slytherin's locket from that little toad Dolores Umbridge.

She sat down at the table, opposite Ron. After the rather embarrassing moment in the Room of Requirement, they had decided it would be best not to pursue a relationship. It just hadn't felt right, Hermione had realized. Ron was too much like a brother to her for her to ever feel comfortable in a relationship with, and she had been relieved to find that he felt the same when she'd told him that. She smiled when Kreacher placed a large plate of food on the table in front of her, and began eating while waiting for Harry to appear.

oooOOOooo

Harry woke to the smell of bacon drifting up from the kitchen. He opened his eyes sleepily and pulled on some decent robes. He wanted to look his best when visiting Narcissa Malfoy again today. After a futile attempt to flatten his hair, he wandered downstairs to find the source of the smell. After giving Kreacher a huge grin as the elf handed him a plate on his way through the door, he greeted Ron and Hermione, 'Hey 'Mione, Ron,' he smiled.

'Morning Harry,' Hermione grinned up at him. 'Ron and I are going to visit the rest of the Weasley's in a bit, do you want to come?'

'Umm, sorry guys but I thought I'd go and see Narcissa Malfoy again today...' he trailed off.

'Again!' Ron exclaimed. 'I'd have thought one visit to the Malfoy household would have been more than enough!' Hermione just gave him a confused look.

'Well, it's a lot different without Lucius and Draco hanging around,' Harry began. 'Narcissa actually seems pretty nice.'

Ron gave him a scathing look. 'Pretty nice.' he repeated. 'Sorry Harry, but I think you need your head checked. This is the Narcissa Malfoy who was a Death Eater, fought with Voldemort, was the wife of the most foul git of the century and mother of an arrogant little ferret otherwise known as Draco Malfoy, right?'

Harry laughed. 'Yes, but she's not actually as bad as all that. Tell you what, my pensieve is sitting on my bed, it'll be easier for you to understand that way. I want to go early so I'll have the rest of the day free otherwise I'd explain myself, but this should work just fine,' he told them, already pulling silvery threads from his temple and depositing them in a glass bottle he had taken from his pocket.

He chuckled at the shocked look on both Ron and Hermione's faces at his casual dismissal of all Narcissa's worst qualities, and passed the bottle to Hermione. The memory he had watched last night had given him an entirely new level of sympathy for Narcissa Malfoy, and surprisingly enough, for her sister too. While he wasn't sure he would ever get over the hatred and anger he felt towards Bellatrix Lestrange, the sight of her sobbing inconsolably on her sister's shoulder had left him wondering if she really had been the woman he'd thought she was.

oooOOOooo

Bella and Sirius strolled in silence around the strange white landscape for a while, until Bella's impatience won over her attempt at politeness by letting Sirius restart the conversation in his own time. Finally she decided she couldn't wait any longer or she would burst, and spun around to face Sirius who was a few feet behind her.

'Ok, Sirius, either you talk now or I swear I will _make_ you.' she snapped at her chuckling cousin. 'And it's NOT FUNNY!' she yelled.

'Oh, Bella,' Sirius grinned, 'you're so easy to annoy!' Sobering a little at the withering glare she gave him, Sirius relented and began to talk once more.

'Well, what do you want to know first?' he asked.

'Why did you call me 'Black'?' Bella asked instantly.

'Keen to get rid of your husband aren't you?' Sirius laughed.

'Most definitely.' Bella replied. '...I assume you know what he did to me...'

'Yes and the foul git deserves a death sentence.' Sirius snapped, an enraged expression coming over his face.

Bella's heart softened at the obvious care he had for her, and her mind drifted for a moment, remembering their childhood, when she, Cissa, Andi and Sirius had stood up for each other, teased each other, cared for each other and generally been as close four children could be.

She was overcome by a sudden wave of nostalgia. Life had been simpler then - no Dark Lords to worry about, no death or sudden realizations that she had lived years of her life under someone else's control, been made to do things she deeply regretted, and no feeling of overwhelming guilt for the countless lives she had ruined.

Sirius' voice jerked her back to the present as he began to explain. 'First Bella, you must understand that the Fae were a pure race who did not tolerate evil or violence, unless it was absolutely necessary. Their magic was as pure as they were, designed to heal and nurture, and it is this purity, along with the death of the caster of your latest Imperius - Voldemort, that has allowed you to escape from the spells you have spent the majority of your life under.

'Cissa, though she did not know what she was doing, cast an ancient Fae spell on you. This spell is simply pure magic - magic in its natural form, untainted by any magical or non-magical being, unaffected by its surroundings and born out of the simple love one person feels for another, whether that be romantic love, friendship or the love between two members of a family. The spell removes all traces of evil, changing that which has been corrupted into something pure. The effect of this spell when combined with the killing curse is something which has never before been witnessed. For this reason, I have no solid facts to base my conclusions on at this point, only guesswork.

What I believe has happened, is that instead of killing you, the killing curse was instead transformed by the Fae magic and then combined with it, producing a spell which not only killed off the evil which had taken its hold on you, but moved you back to a time before you became corrupted by it.'

_A/N: Well, there you go! I hope it lived up to your expectations, but please review and tell me what you thought!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own, I do not own, I do not own, I do not own, I do not own, I do not own, I do not own. Got it yet? Great, glad we're clear on that.**

_A/N: Well, the next chapter is finally up! I want to thank all my reviewers and those of you who have added this story to your favourites or story alerts. Special thanks must go to __**LadyFfion **__and __**InsanityRunsInMyBlood**__ who have faithfully reviewed every chapter so far - you're really great guys!_

_Again I would like to thank my beta __**plums**__. I had a fair bit of trouble with this chapter and without his help it would be nowhere near as good as it now is. Please remember to thank him in your rewiews! _

_Anyway on with the story! (Just a warning though - there is some pretty serious Ron bashing at the end of this chapter!)_

Chapter five

Bella stared at him in shock. 'So what you're saying is... I've gone back in time?' she asked.

'Not quite,' Sirius replied. 'When you choose to wake, time will be as you left it. A few days have already passed in the world of the living, but other than that, nothing has changed. What has changed however, is you Bella. Look at yourself. You've already commented on not feeling stiff, but that's not all of it by far.'

Sirius conjured a small mirror and handed it to her. She took it from him and looked into it, gasping at what she saw. True, she'd felt more energetic, fitter and more flexible, but she hadn't really thought much of it. Now however, she could see that the lines and wrinkles around her eyes and the corners of her mouth were gone, her face had regained its youthfulness and her hair its lustre. She looked at least twenty, maybe thirty years younger. This was definitely the weirdest experience of her entire life. She handed the mirror back to Sirius as she gave him a confused look.

'What _exactly_ has happened to me?' she demanded.

'I'm not entirely sure,' Sirius replied, already raising a hand to stop her onslaught of exclamations, 'but I do have a theory.'

'Oh great, another theory!' Bella huffed.

'Do you want to hear it or not!' Sirius snapped.

'Fine, go ahead.' she relented grudgingly.

'Thank you. Now, what I believe has happened, is that the Fae magic is giving you another chance at life. You are now roughly the same age as you were just before you left Hogwarts, before you had to marry Rodolphus Lestrange - may he die a painful death - and before you were subjected to the Imperius. You can live your life as if the last twenty years or so never happened to you! You have a chance to relive the years you lost under someone else's control, do what you want with your life, find someone you love, have children, and do whatever you want! You're free Bella.' He grinned at her. 'You're free.'

Bella stared at Sirius as what he was saying sunk in. She had another chance at life - a _free_ life not one controlled by spells, potions, evil Dark Lords and terrifying husbands. It was more than she could ever have hoped for, and yet, it saddened her that everyone would continue to judge her on who she had been while under the Imperius, rather than who she really was. Finding a way to convince the ministry that she was innocent would be hard enough, but even if she achieved that, it would still be near impossible to change people's opinions of her. Sighing, she decided to worry about that later. For now simply enjoying the feeling of happiness at her freedom would be enough. Fixing a smile on her face, she turned to look at her cousin.

'Thank you,' she told him genuinely. 'You may still be an annoying mongrel, but you're still the same old Sirius who was my favourite cousin when we were growing up.' She chuckled and dodged his attempt to ruffle her hair as he replied.

'No worries Bella,' he smiled. 'You're almost ready to leave this place now, but first there are a few more things you must know about the gift of the Fae. While the gift has so far only been activated in Narcissa, I believe that it will soon become active in both you and Andromeda as well. If my theory proves to be correct, and Cissa has indeed woken a Fae, it may change our world forever.

The other thing you must realise is that there will be witches all over the world who may well have their powers awakened as well, but this may take time to happen. Most importantly however, as soon as it is possible for her to do so, Narcissa and those others who have had their magic awoken must visit the Fae in the Forbidden forest.'

'It is there that they will need to be trained in how to control their new magic.'

oooOOOooo

Narcissa was once again sitting by her sister's side. She wanted to ensure that she did not miss Bella's awakening, so she had spent every free minute with her since Harry had left. As the wards around the house rippled once more, the little house elf Honey appeared at her side.

'Harry Potter is come to see ...Cissa again,' she said. 'Will Honey let him in?'

Narcissa had to laugh at the elf's hesitation at calling her by her first name. She gave the elf a smile in the split second it took for her to think about her answer.

Did she want to see Potter? Well, the answer was obvious - she needed his help if she was ever to convince anyone of Bella's innocence. During the hours she had spent at her sister's bedside, she had formulated a plan. Harry had already seen her memory of the night Bella had come to her overcome with remorse and pain, but she needed to gain his trust a little more before she could reveal that Bella was still alive. To do this, she would have to show him more of her life, get him to trust her. She knew that he was making an effort to be civil as she had not given him away in the forest and he was grateful for that, but she could see the way he analyzed every move she made to see if it was an attack, the way he sat on the very edge of the seat, tensed up and ready to leap to his feet at any sign of a threat.

She knew that it would probably take time for him to realise that she had never chosen any of this, that she had been forced into the Dark Lord's service by her husband. She had ample willingness to spend the necessary time explaining these details to him and to show him the memories he would want to see to confirm the stories she told him. In the end, she was prepared to do anything if it would help prove the innocence of both her and her sister.

'Yes,' she smiled, rising from her seat and making her way towards the lounge. 'Show him in.'

oooOOOooo

Harry was once again walking towards the front door of Malfoy manor wondering what on earth he was doing here. Last time he had almost turned around and left again - after all he was practically walking into the lair of the enemy - but he was glad he had continued on. Something inside him had told him that there was something he needed to do here. At the time he had assumed it was to thank Narcissa for not giving him away in the Forbidden Forest, but that nagging feeling was still there. The sense of de-já-vu was starting to creep him out a little actually.

In his past, it had been his intuition or instincts that had carried him through many perilous situations. It wasn't his just knowing when to duck or dodge in battles to avoid being hit by spells, it was also on occasions such as the snake attack on Mr Weasley when Harry just _knew_ that it was real. Thinking of that incident reminded Harry of Sirius, and how it had been Harry's insistence that his godfather had been in danger that had, in the end, led to his death. That one vision had been an occasion when his instincts had failed him, and it had cost him dearly. Harry just hoped he wasn't about to repeat that mistake.

He was jerked out of his reminiscing by the noise of the door being opened by a small house elf. 'Lady Cissa is waiting for Mister Potter in the lounge,' she called to him in her squeaky voice.

'Thank you,' Harry replied politely as he was led into the now rather familiar room.

Though he had not been here very often in person, he had watched and re-watched Narcissa's memory of her sister so many times he had become familiar with every little detail of the room - trying in vain to find some discrepancy that would prove the memory was faked. It wasn't that he couldn't believe it was true, more that he didn't want to. It was easier having someone to hate, someone to blame for the death of his godfather other than himself for leading him to the ministry that fateful night.

He had convinced himself that, other than Voldemort, Bellatrix had been the most foul and evil being that had inhabited the earth. To state he was finding it more than a little difficult to let go of that idea was an understatement of cataclysmic proportions, and trying to come to terms with the possibility that the opposite may be true was something his mind was stubbornly resistant to. It meant looking at everything from a different perspective, seeing innocence where he had never imagined he would find it and avoiding jumping to the same conclusions he would usually have jumped to. He smiled nervously at Narcissa as he made his way to the large sofa against the far wall.

'Good morning, Mrs Malfoy.' he said politely.

'Gah! Don't call me that please - I hate every reminder that I'm married to that man.' Narcissa shuddered. 'The elves are helping me remove every trace of his existence from the manor, and I would prefer to ignore my surname to help matters along. You can call me Cissa!'

Harry's face must have given away some of his discomfort at addressing her in such a manner. While she had been perfectly friendly to him on the last occasion he had visited her, he had yet to break through all his old prejudices towards her, and he definitely did not feel comfortable enough in her presence to demonstrate any signs of familiarity. Narcissa laughed - though Harry imagined her face fell a little - and presented a compromise. 'How about you just Narcissa then?' she asked.

'That sounds reasonable,' Harry replied. He could cope with Narcissa, but Cissa implied some kind of relationship or at least friendship. While Harry was willing to attempt to overcome some of his prejudices, he didn't feel that they were exactly... friends. It would take a little more trust on Narcissa's part, and a rather substantial leap of faith on Harry's part for him to come to think of her as anything more than an acquaintance.

'Narcissa...' Harry began tentatively, feeling the strange and unfamiliar name roll uncomfortably off his tongue. 'I watched the memory you gave me. I... I had no idea...'

'No, no-one does.' Narcissa replied. 'No-one but you, Lucius, Rodolphus and I have any idea of the real reason Bella and I became Death Eaters. That's the problem. To almost the entire wizarding community Bella and I ... especially Bella, are loyal and devoted followers of the Dark Lord.'

Harry was slightly shocked at her reply. Obviously the abuse both Narcissa and Bella had received at the hands of their husbands was not common knowledge, but to have found out he was one of only four people who knew the truth of what had happened made him even more curious as to why exactly Narcissa was giving _him_ this information.

'Why have you told me this?' he asked. 'Why have you shown me the memory of Bella? Why me?'

'Oh Harry,' Narcissa sighed. 'I've told _you_, because you're the only one who can help me.' Her voice cracked at the end of the sentence, and Harry was shocked to see that she was crying. He had no idea what to do, but seemingly before his brain had caught on to what was happening, his feet had carried him across the room to where she was sitting and he had pulled her into a comforting hug. Only when she hugged him back, drawing comfort from his presence, did he realise what he was doing. Harry froze, but oddly, this strange contact didn't worry him or make him feel awkward like it should have.

There was that trust he had asked for only moments ago. Harry was pretty sure that the aristocratic and unfeeling Lady Malfoy would lower herself to allowing just anyone to see her in tears. No matter how much she had changed, there was still that proud streak in her nature that Harry felt certain would prevent her from having such an outburst in front of most people.

The question now was, could Harry make that leap of faith? He supposed that by comforting her, he already had. He could hardly take it back now, especially when it seemed like Narcissa was relying on his arms around her to keep her from falling apart completely.

So there it was. Against all odds, he had begun to develop a sort of friendship with Narcissa in the two short days he had spent with her since the end of the war. Comforting her felt no different than the numerous times he had comforted Hermione, and this, more than anything else, made him realise that Narcissa was not who everyone thought she was, and in fact was a normal person with a troubled past who needed his help.

'Hush, it's ok,' he murmured. 'I'll try to help you if you tell me what you need me to do.'

Narcissa glanced up at him, and for a moment Harry saw her surprise at finding him with his arms around her as if she hadn't realised he was there, and felt her tense before she once again relaxed into his soothing embrace.

'You will?' she asked, almost as if she didn't dare to believe it.

'Yes ...Cissa, I will.'

She suddenly flung her arms around his neck, astonishing Harry so much that he simply sat there until she realised what she was doing and hastily released him.

'Sorry,' she laughed, 'I'm just so relieved.'

'It's ok,' Harry chuckled. 'Just umm... contain the emotion a little, yeah?'

'Can do,' Narcissa replied with a grin.

'Great, so what did you want my help with?'

'Well, before I tell you, I need to show you a few more memories which will help you understand. Why don't you take them now and you can come see me tomorrow again?'

'Sure,' Harry grinned, reaching for the bottle she was passing to him. 'See you tomorrow ...Cissa.'

oooOOOooo

When Harry returned to Number 12 Grimmauld place, it was to find Ron sitting at the kitchen table with a shocked look on his face and Hermione beside him with silent tears trickling down her cheeks. Alarm bells started ringing in his head, and he instantly feared the worst. 'What's wrong,' he asked, panicked. 'Is someone hurt?'

'No!' Hermione reassured him quickly, watching as he visibly relaxed. 'We watched your memories.'

'Oh...' Harry replied. It was only then that he noticed the pensieve on the table in front of them.

'I would never have guessed...' Hermione said in a small voice.

'No, me neither. I went to see her again today. She's not the person everyone believes her to be, and I'm beginning to think that neither is her sister. I've always just thought Death Eaters were people who had willingly decided to serve Voldemort, but if Cissa and Bella were treated this way...' Harry broke off as Ron interrupted.

'Oh, so it's 'Cissa and Bella' now, is it?' he snapped. He had been sitting quietly at the table since Harry had come in, but his shocked expression had transformed into one of stony anger. Ron's outburst continued when Harry made no reply, other then to hear him mutter 'Déjà vu all over again.'

'In case you've forgotten, your darling 'Bella' tried to KILL MY MOTHER! She tried to kill Ginny too, and Harry, she killed Sirius! How can you believe the lies that Malfoy woman is feeding you! The 'memory' she gave you is obviously faked, I mean, isn't it such a coincidence that the minute Voldemort kicks the bucket she's suddenly telling you all these stories about how Lucius abused her, and how she's oh so innocent and always wanted to help you and...'

'RON!' Harry snapped, breaking off his tirade. This argument, or rather Ron yelling and whinging, was reminding him of the night Ron had abandoned both him and Hermione during their search for the Horcruxes. This time however, Ron did not have the excuse of hunger and the influence of the locket to excuse him, and Harry was quickly getting annoyed with his incapacity and unwillingness to try to see things from a different perspective.

'Ron.' Harry started again. 'She saved my life. I would be dead if it wasn't for her. She was in the perfect position in that forest to have me killed and she didn't. She protected me. She looked Voldemort straight in the eye and lied to him to save me.'

'I know it's hard to believe but you haven't talked to her, you haven't seen just how happy she truly is that the war is over and she's _free_! Don't you get it Ron? Bellatrix was under the Imperius and Narcissa knew she would be killed if she didn't pretend to be a loyal Death Eater. She nearly _was_ killed! Didn't you watch the part where Lucius TORTURED her so badly she was a trembling wreck and passed out?

'Yes, but can't you see?' Ron yelled. 'It was obviously faked! She's a Death Eater Harry! She should be locked up in Azkaban, and you should NOT be defending her! She's Narcissa MALFOY for Merlin's sake!'

'So?' Harry replied in a quiet, yet defiant voice. 'It doesn't matter who she is if she's innocent. And Ron, I spent hours watching and re-watching that memory, and I can't find any signs that it's been faked. I've seen fake Pensieve memories before, I know exactly what they look like. Slughorn gave Dumbledore one and I had to eventually get the real one from the fat walrus. I think she's telling the truth. I apologize if this wrecks your pretty little ordered world of who's good and who's evil.'

Ron stared at him, stony faced. 'Fine.' He said, then turned on his heel and began to stride out of the house.

'Ron!' Harry shouted, causing the erupting red-head to stop but not turn-around. 'You can walk out like you did in the tent, but if you abandon us again, there's no coming back. We're through.'

Hermione had watched the entire repeat of the past with her mouth open, her head going back and forth like she was watching a tennis match. With this last declaration, she looked wide-eyed at Harry.

Ron, said nothing, and continued his steady walk right out the front door.

_A/N: So what did you think! Hope no-one is too upset with me for the Ron bashing, but I couldn't help myself (and I must say I had plenty of encouragement from my beta... I believe his exact word were 'no partial bashing - it's all or nothing'! Haha!) Anyway, please, please, please leave a review - I love hearing what you thought of the story and where you think it's going to go next! _:)


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